It's hot. Here in the Gold Country our days are in the upper 90s and our nights only dipping into the 70s. We're passing through the mini-season called Lughnasad or First Harvest (August 1 - the Full Moon in Aquarius on August 6), and for the first time in several years, I'm not on a flight to Scotland to spend the dog days of summer in the ever-so crisp Scottish Highlands and in England's Summer Country. I'll return to Scotland for another great pilgrimage and retreat in April 2018, but for now, I'm settled into my regular schedule of teaching, so if you're in town this August, stop by and say hello.

I'm feeling both lazy from the heat and excited for the autumn season, which was energetically initiated in this Lughnasad portal. This mini-season is known as First Harvest and is the moment you pause and celebrate your accomplishments of the year. We look back at the seeds of intention we planted in late winter, and celebrate what took root, grew and is now bearing fruit. Just as our summer vegetable gardens are now providing enough that we must start considering how we will make use of all the abundance, the first harvest of our year gives us enough to keep us motivated to keep going and, yes, to create something new from these fruits.

One of my great joys and accomplishments of this year thus far is stepping ever more fully into my path as a priestess. Part of this work was the creation of The Sovereign Path Earth Wisdom Immersion. The first iteration of the SPI completed itself in March and I'm now heavily into the evolution of the program for the next Immersion beginning in October, as well as beginning to dream how this fruit will create more. As I reflect back, I'm also extremely proud of our yoga and sisterhood communities and how we have stood confidently in our values in these chaotic times and have spoken truth to power while maintaining love in our hearts. These are the times we have been practicing for and we are the heroes we've been waiting for.

In addition to the upcoming Earth Wisdom Immersion, I'm also stepping back into teaching as part of a 200 Hour Yoga Teacher Training at Namaste Yoga beginning in September. This is the first 200 Hour program I've co-taught since 2015, and I look forward to sharing the wide array of yoga thought and philosophy with the trainees.

As always, take good care of yourself and nourish your body, mind and soul during these waning summer days!